Need help installing Ubuntu 9.10 - Overclock.net

Acoma_Andy · 3 Weeks Ago

Previously I had Ubuntu 9.04 installed, but then my bootloader got messed up so had to run fixmbr to be able to boot from Vista again.

Now I'm trying to install Ubuntu 9.10, and after the installation it reboots and I get the following error:

GRUB loading
error> no such partition

I installed 9.10 manually by selecting a 14GB partition and added the "/" mark. Also have a 6GB swap partition. The installation went flawless, why this error?

My guess is that the previous time I had 9.04 installed, I did not remove GRUB and now it is not succesful in overwriting it?

L3gacy · 3 Weeks Ago

Try reformatting completely and installing lik a fresh install ,if it is your main OS

-iceblade^ · 3 Weeks Ago

i've had this issue before.

if it doesn't work after rebooting once or twice, i'd suggest reformatting and then reinstalling.

shughard · 3 Weeks Ago

I had a similar problem the other day. I searched ubuntu forums and found this:

http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-24113.html

This is the part that worked for me:

Quote:

Don't forget that this method, as described, puts GRUB back on the MBR (master boot record) of the hard drive instead of in the root parititon. This is fine for most people, but not if you already have an alternative boot manager.

In other words, if you use something like Boot Magic or System Commander, the commands you've just read will overwrite what you've got.

If you've installed GRUB into the Root Partition instead of the MBR, the commands are a little different. Here's are the instructions that I have for my system:

How to Restore the Grub Menu after a Re-Ghosting:

1. Boot from a Live CD, like Ubuntu Live, Knoppix, Mepis, or similar.

2. Open a Terminal. Go SuperUser (that is, type "sudo"). Enter root passwords as necessary.

3. Type "grub" which makes a GRUB prompt appear.

4. Type "find /boot/grub/stage1". You'll get a response like "(hd0)" or in my case "(hd0,3)". Use whatever your computer spits out for the following lines.

5. Type "root (hd0,3)".

6. Type "setup (hd0,3)". This is key. Other instructions say to use "(hd0)", and that's fine if you want to write GRUB to the MBR. If you want to write it to your linux root partition, then you want the number after the comma, such as "(hd0,3)".

7. Type "quit".

8. Restart the system. Remove the bootable CD.

Hope this helps. Since I use Norton Ghost to make regular backups and restores (I do a lot of testing), I do this all the time...

-Warr

I just followed his directions and was back in business.

Hope this helps for you.

Acoma_Andy · 3 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by L3gacy

Try reformatting completely and installing lik a fresh install ,if it is your main OS

The point is to make a dual boot between Vista and Ubuntu.

Quote:

Originally Posted by -iceblade^

i've had this issue before.

if it doesn't work after rebooting once or twice, i'd suggest reformatting and then reinstalling.

Didn't work. Formatting is not an option (only the Ubuntu partitions).

Quote:

Originally Posted by shughard

I had a similar problem the other day. I searched ubuntu forums and found this:

http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-24113.html

This is the part that worked for me:

I just followed his directions and was back in business.

Hope this helps for you.

Thanks, I'll look into it.

halocog · 3 Weeks Ago

This seems like it is a very common problem for people that are upgrading.

idk if i can help you, but you might be able to do something with a gparted live cd?

esocid · 3 Weeks Ago

You will have to point Grub to the proper location.

Since you have 2 HDDs, and I'm assuming at least 2 partitions on one of those, you'll either have to make grub search for it, or just brute force it, which will be easy since there are only 3 possibilites: hd0,0 hd0,1 or hd1,0 (unless it's on your hd1, then it's hd1,1)

When grub pops up does it automatically show that error, or when you select Ubuntu to boot?

I've had grub errors, but only in locating my installs. And a reinstall usually fixes it. I don't know if it is an option with the Ubuntu installer, but Fedora asks where you want to put Grub, MBR and some other option I never use.

Acoma_Andy · 3 Weeks Ago

Yes I have 2 HDD's. How can I make GRUB search for the right HDD?

I installed Ubuntu on an EXT4 formatted partition if that matters. And when GRUB loads I don't get to the selection screen, but I get prompted with the rescue console.

Quote:

4. Type "find /boot/grub/stage1". You'll get a response like "(hd0)" or in my case "(hd0,3)". Use whatever your computer spits out for the following lines.

I got the response "Error 15: file not found".

esocid · 3 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acoma_Andy

Yes I have 2 HDD's. How can I make GRUB search for the right HDD?

I installed Ubuntu on an EXT4 formatted partition if that matters. And when GRUB loads I don't get to the selection screen, but I get prompted with the rescue console.

I got the response "Error 15: file not found".

I think you have to mount your installation first. In fedora, at the prompt I type

Code:

chroot /mnt/sysimage

I'm not sure that's how Ubuntu handles it so there's another route you can take. Mount your root partition first. If your hard drives are sata, you'll use sda, if they pata (ide) just replace sda with hda.

Code:

sudo mkdir /mnt/root

sudo mount -t ext4 /dev/sda1 /mnt/root
//or use sda2 if that is where your install is

sudo mount -t proc none /mnt/root/proc

sudo mount -o bind /dev /mnt/root/dev

sudo chroot /mnt/root /bin/bash

Now your root should be mounted, and you can make grub search. The error you were getting was because grub wasn't looking at your filesystem.

Code:

sudo grub

find /boot/grub/stage1

root (hdx,y)
//whatever the location of 'find' outputs

setup (hd0)

If that doesn't fix it, I'd recommend reinstalling. Upgrading always seems to eff up my grub, so I do a clean install.

Acoma_Andy · 3 Weeks Ago

Ok, I tried that and as response I got the same for both sda1 and sda2:

Quote:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount -t ext4 /dev/sda2 /mnt/root
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sda2,
missing codepage or helper program, or other error
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
dmesg | tail or so

Note that I am trying to do this from a Ubuntu CD if that matters.

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Need help installing Ubuntu 9.10

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